"Ooh, I get to see another alien." I say, a tiny bit sarcastically. "I wonder if they'll have weird proby things this time."

The Doctor smiles, moving around the TARDIS. "I don't understand what is it with you humans. You always assume aliens are out of space monsters."

"Stories. Movies." I say with a shrug. "Little green men with pointy hats ready to dissect you."

"Well some are like that but not all. HAH!" He flips the switch off and the TARDIS powers down. "Wait, wait what are you doing?" He peers at the screen. "WHAT?! STOP THAT!"

I think he's talking to me but I haven't done anything. I peer past the row of beeping lights. They're all flashing. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh the..." He jams his fist onto the computer, causing it to sputter and jump back to life. "Phew." He throws off his glasses and adjusts a switch. "Thought I was going to be in trouble there." He turns around quickly, glancing at me. "See, Darcy... when something doesn't work... all it needs..."

The TARDIS's noises fade as he looks at me. I'm slightly creeped out by the fact that he's trying desperately to get me to understand something. "What? Needs what?"

"A good thump." He laughs, thumping the computer again. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that? You know when something breaks down and you don't know how to fix it. Wlell, it's always good to give it a good thump. It can unjam the circuts and get the energy moving. AND here we are!" He slows down the descent.

"Ah, a perfect landing. How about you go out and meet your aliens then, eh?"

I run towards the door. "This is gonna be good." I open it slowly, still a little cautiously. After all, the last time I did I got hit with ice water. Nothing. There's nothing out there. I open it wider and step out hesitantly onto the dirt.

Around us, there's brown dirt walls, like we're deep inside a cave. The bumps and crevices are the only character in this place. The only way out is a narrow hallway, and I can't see any other entrances or exits.

I spin around quickly at a noise to my left and come face to face with the weirdest thing I have seen in my life. It's an alien, obviously. All brown and stringy. Like it's got 2 legs but it towers over me, its face covered by a solid mask with three eye holes which are covered, and protuding from its 3 pointed arm is what I can only assume to be a galatic gun.

When I look around me I realize I'm in a circle. I back up slowly until I can feel the familiar wood of the TARDIS against me. "Uh... Doctor?" I say very softly.

"You..." The alien thing with the gun - I guess an Endor - reaches out slowly with its free hand... if it is indeed a hand, and touches my shoulder. I jerk back as a sort of electric shock jumps from it to me.

"Hey!" I look at its hand which is glowing with blue static. "What the h..." I watch, frozen, as I see a jet of blue come from the end of its gun, the jet that seems to hover above me and dissolve around me, and then I remember nothing.

*********************

"Well, what did I miss?" The Doctor steps out onto the planet, surveying it with wide eyes and taking everything in in a millisecond. "Oh. Oi! What was that for?" He bends down beside the unconscious form of his companion. "Oh, she wasn't hurting you, you big brute."

"You." The Endor says slowly and very quietly, reaching out its hand.

"Oh, right. Sorry." He extends a hand and touches the Endor. The electricity races around them for a few seconds before dissolving back.

"It." The Endor points to Darcy.

"I know. Well I didn't exactly warn her it was your way of communicating, now how was she meant to know? And what did you knock her out for?" He buzzes his sonic screwdriver around her and sighs. "Brilliant. Only a small jet of energy then. Going to be sleepy for a while."

"Doctor." The Endor says, holding some sort of warmth in its voice. "We have been waiting for you. We need your help."

"No you don't. Well, yes you do, but not until you give me my friend back."

"Doctor... we must insist..." The Endor bends down to join the Doctor on the ground, then he puts his hand on the Doctor's shoulder and whispers something very quietly.

"OH!" The Doctor jumps up immediately. "Oh, well you might have told me. It's time for this? Already? Oh come on, please not now. Not here. We only just met. She's not ready, I don't know if she's going to be able to... oh blimey." He runs a hand through his hair with a sigh. "Fine. Fine. I'll just have to trust her. Like she did me. Give me a moment, Endor, I'm all yours. I must do this first."

The Endor step back, bowing their heads. The Doctor carefully lifts Darcy up, pushing back the blond hair from her face. "Oh I'm sorry to do this to you Darcy. So soon, too. I wasn't expecting this for another 100 years. Oh well, it's OK. Only... only just the fate of the universe hangs in the ballance... and you're the only one that can save it."

He walks through the TARDIS doors, which groans softly. "I know, I know old girl. I'm so sorry to do this to you, too. I know how you feel about someone else here but me. Just remember she's my companion and you'll help her."

He goes down the hallway and sets Darcy gently on the bed, straightening up with a smile. "I'm so glad you're brave, Darcy. I didn't choose you as a companion - you chose me. But all these things have a way of working themselves out."

He sets down a note on the table beside her bed, along with a glass of water, and a device which he hooks up to the wall and pins the note onto. Removing his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket, he buzzes the small machine to life with a few clicks and presses of buttons.

"My dear, dear Darcy. Sleep well. Because we all now rely on you." He leans over to rest his hands around her face, and closes his eyes, seeing through the very wispy barrier guarding her thoughts, and starts to pour fourth his knowledge to her. She winces slightly in her sleep, and writhes on the bed.

"No, shhh." He says gently, stopping the process momentarily. "You have to be strong. And you have to be brave." He continues while she struggles, until eventually it's done, and she collapses back onto the bed, still in deep sleep. Rubbing small circles with his fingers on her temple, he leans over to gently kiss her forehead. "You have to get this right, my dear. But I have faith in you. Darcy... Darcy Lester I trust you with my life."

********************************************

Fuzzy. The world is so fuzzy. I can't feel anything. I feel absolutely nothing. Except there's light trying to work its way past my lovely darkness.

"Ohh, go away." I moan, pulling my hands up, moving my fingers 1 by 1, very slowly, then inching my eyes open. The white light is bright, but as my eyes adjust it fades. I wiggle my fingers and then put a hand to my head as a massive headache starts throbbing. Absolutely aching, my head is. Like it just expanded or something.

"Doctor?" I moan, looking around, expecting his face to pop up anywhere with its welcoming smile.

"Hey! Where am I?" I pull myself off the bed very slowly, still feeling dizzy and woozy, then my eyes fall on the table. I snatch up the note.

Darcy, I am so, so sorry to have to do this to you. But I had little choice about the time. And today, it seems, is it. Drink the water, it will help with the headache, and when you're done plug in the machine. Good luck.

"What are you doing now, you're mad." I pull the beeping machine off the table. "Now... which button..." I try a few random ones before the screen comes to life. I jump back, startled, as it starts playback.

"Hello!" The Doctor's face pops up on the screen. "If you're seeing this, I want to start by saying that I am so, so sorry this is happening. It wasn't meant to be happening for another few hundred years. But unfortunately these things never turn out quite how they've planned, eh? SO, by now you must have realized that I'm not here. That's actually a bad thing. Most likely, you would have been on your own for at least 2 days..."

I slam my hand on the pause button and jump up. I've been out for a whole 2 days?! I feel my stomach growl and look up at the date. Oh my gosh it's true. I have been lying in the TARDIS for 2 days, which means the Doctor could be anywhere. Absolutely anywhere. And why hasn't he come back?

"...I know this may seem a little odd to you, but don't worry. I'm still alive. The Endor won't kill me. Not yet. But that's what I need you for. See you, my friend, are brilliant. You are going to save me, yourself, and the entire earth. AND DON'T YOU DARE HIT THAT PAUSE BUTTON!"

My hand hovers over the pause button. I take a few deep breaths as he smiles. "Now. I need you to trust me more than you've ever had to before. Because this is going to be risky. It's going to be hard, and it's going to be very very dangerous. See you are now me. You are now The Doctor. The Doctor that everyone knows will be dead, at least for the while. You'll need a companion, which I've already chosen for you. You can meet them when you go and get me what I need. Take a look in your pocket."

I reach down a trembling hand towards my jeans and pull out his sonic screwdriver.

"Yes, my sonic. I know, I know. It's just a sonic screwdriver, but it is so much more. The TARDIS will automatically shut down to anyone who tries to fly it but me, so you'll need the screwdriver to fly her, and..."

"I'M NOT FLYING THE FREAKING TARDIS DOCTOR!!" I stare at the screen, panicked.

The screen pauses as the Doctor smiles, almost like he can hear me. "Yes, Darcy. You are flying the TARDIS and I know you can do this."

"Wait, can you hear me?" My mouth drops open as I gape at the screen.

"Yes." I jump as it hesitates. "Well, no, of course I can't hear hear you, but I know what you're going to say. The future me. What you're seeing is me in the future, come back to send the message to the Doctor's companion to save everyone. But now's not the time for talk. I need you to listen. The coordinates have already been pre-set in the TARDIS' main frame. All you need to do is go up to that control panell. While you were unconscious, I put the knowledge in your head. It will all go eventually, but you have it for now. Now, before the Endor realize what I'm doing - what you're doing, you have to stop this recording. Stop it and go and fly the TARDIS. Input the information, and she'll take you where you need to go. From there, you will find your companion. Stop this now, and go and do it."

A small tear drips down my nose. I can't handle this responsibility. I've only ever been traveling once. And I'm in a strange place.

"And Darcy." The voice is soft. I look back at it as another tear joins its place. "Everything is going to be alright. I promise. I have faith in you. You can do this. You are brilliant."

I press stop and lean back, breathing heavily. This is going to be a very interesting trip.

***************

"OK then..." I stroll around the TARDIS, copying the Doctor. "Well... let's... go then." Pulling up the lever it sputters into life, hissing and wheezing. Then, just like what happened back on that first day I met the Doctor, my brain kicks into action. I know what to do - that is my brain knows what to do, and my fingers know what to do. But I honestly have no idea what I'm pressing and hitting. But, it seems to work. In no time at all I'm flung agains the console floor. That means we're flying. I just cross my fingers and hope the TARDIS knows what she's doing.

As soon as we grind to a halt I grab the small ipod like device and hit play. Though I'm scared to death, the Doctor's voice seems to help with the nerves of having to save him - not to mention the world.

"So now you'll be wondering where you are. Step outside and have a look. I've told your companion to meet you at the local coffee shop. Don't worry, you'll know the area well. While you get there, here's some information about your companion. His name is Jack Harkness. Not as handsome as me, and not nearly as smart, but I think he'll prove useful. And I've asked him to protect you. He's tall, has brown hair and occasionally wears sunglasses because he thinks they're cool. He knows exactly what to do so don't worry about a thing. Keep alert, and good luck. And because this isnt very portable, there's an earpiece in the center console. You can put that in and still listen to it without having to hold it."

"Oh you're a freaking genius." I pull out the earpiece and put it in with determination. "So I guess this is farewell, for the moment?"

"Yes. But don't worry, you'll see me again. if everything goes according to plan, which it will, we'll both be back in the TARDIS soon."

"That's comforting." I sigh, flipping the switch. When I open the door to the TARDIS, I smile. Familiar streets surround me. I'm literally around the corner from my old house, and I know the coffee shop he's talking about. I used to go there all the time running errands for Mum. I can't think about her now. I shove her out of my mind and take off in a slow jog to the coffee shop.

Glancing around at every stranger I meet, I take my order and sit in a booth, wondering when I'm going to meet my 'companion.' In a moment, someone bustles into the shop. Tall? Definitely. Dark and handsome. Yes. And he is wearing sunglasses, along with a long overcoat which looks like something the Doctor would wear. "Hello?"

I jump as I turn around and blush when I see him standing a few centermetres from the table with a coffee in hand. I hadn't even realized he'd moved due to all my inner thoughts. "Hi..." I say slowly.

"Well." He slides down into the seat across from me. "I know I'm tall, dark and handsome but there's no need to say it out loud." He gives me a quick wink to make sure I know he's joking and smiles, showing white dazzling teeth.

"You're... you're Jack Harkness?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yes." He twirls a piece of paper around in his hands. "And you're the famous Darcy Lester, right?"

"I'm not famous." I mumble, going red again.

"Oh, the Doctor talks a lot about you already." He flashes me a grin and hands over the note he's been holding. "This was delivered just over half a year ago."

Hello again, Jack. Sorry to do this to you again, but I need a slight favour. While I was poking around in my TARDIS there seemed to be an unusual tear forming in the fabric of the universe. Naturally I explored it and found out more than I wanted to know. But that's a long story. In short, I want you to go to Zaraffa's Coffee House on the corner of Bold and Ash Street, and meet someone. She needs your help. I trust her to explain everything. She's extremely smart, and I know you two will have no problem getting alone, plus I haven't time to explain why. All you need to know is that I'm counting on you. Regards, John Smith.

"John Smith?" I take a sip of coffee.

"A psydonym. He always uses that with letters and mail - anything that can be publicly seen, because obviously everyone would start getting a little suspicious if 'The Doctor' was signed on everything."

"So basically you came here to meet me with nothing but a note to say he wanted you to help me?"

"Pretty much." He takes the last sip of his coffee and stands up. "Well, let's get to saving him, shall we? We should hurry. I haven't flown in the TARDIS or beat aliens for a long, long time." He flexes his fingers. "Well, come on blondie, where we off to?"

I scowl a little at the nickname but seriously, who could stay mad at someone like that for long? "Follow me, Mr. Harkness." I push past the line of shoppers at the door.

"Just Jack." He calls after me.

"And I'm Darcy."

"Whatever you say, blondie." I can hear him smiling at the end of his sentence. We take the last meter or so at a run and he whistles as he admires the TARDIS. "Same as always. I've always loved this spaceship." He runs his hands up the wood then joins me at the control panel.

I flick on the dashboard and plug in the device, putting the Doctor's message onto the central screen. His face flashes up. "Jack! Old pal it's been too long." Jack salutes the screen with a smirk on his face. "Well done, you two. Here's where things get a little tricky. See the Endoors have made what they like to call an earth bomb. Like a time bomb, only little events in the past can trigure it. I had no idea they were sneaking around behind my back planting their little earth bombs in places I've been. These bombs, set to go off in the past - or your future now, will destroy the universe. That's why you two have to deactivate them before they can. In total, there's 3, not including the one that I'll be staring at in a few minutes (back in the past when we first landed on Endor). Timey wimey stuff. So here's the plan: Get to the places set back in the past, destroy the bombs set up and get back to Endor as soon as you can. Good luck to both of you."

Jack laughs as the recording clicks off. "That man is crazy, and he's going to kill us all one day."